A Burgundy blind tasting

My 'wine man' included a few bottles Burgundy in my last delivery, and after recently enjoying a week's holiday exploring the appellations of Bourgogne and the joys and secrets of the Chardonnay grape, I was interested in comparing a few different wines.

I invited some friends and put them in charge of our meal, which turned out to be a succulent roast chicken with pork stuffing, glorious roast potatoes and salad.

I had prepared the wines in advance, wrapping them in tinfoil and giving each a number from one to four so that 1) we could guess which wine was which, and 2) find out who liked what wine. I have to admit that none of us guessed all four wines correctly, but we all had a mutual favourite, that being the Saint Veran.

The results of our Burgundy blind tasting - you can see which ones were the most popular!

Tasting notes (from left to right):

1.  2006 Saint Veran, Verget, Appellation Saint Veran Contrôlée (13% vol):
This was our favourite wine! It's a pale-yellow wine and I adored the clean minerally, lemon nose and the citrus on the palate with a smooth, not tart, finish. As per the photo above, it was guzzled without much further thought! Splendid.
2. 2007 Macon-Uchizy, Cave Talmard, Mallory & Benjamin (Paul Mallory), Appellation Macon-Villages Contrôlée (13% vol):

Golden-yellow with caramel, honeysuckle, and oak on the nose. A good food wine and perfect with our roast chicken. Reminded me of days as a child sniffing the honeysuckle flowers in my gran's garden - that wonderfully hedonistic scent.

3. 2010 White Burgundy, Marks & Spencer, Appellation Bourgogne Contrôlée (13% vol):

A pale wine with a light, clean nose. Mineral and citrus on the palate - slightly astringent compared to the others tasted. A good value Burgundy. I included this £6.49 M&S wine as I was interested to see how it stacked up against the others. I would happily recommend this with a yummy roast chicken - it's a bargin!

4. 2006 Simonnet-Febvre Chablis, Appellation Chablis Contrôlée (13% vol):

Another pale wine with a touch of peach on the nose - very slightly floral. Lemons. A bit tart and lean on the palate. This is the wine that confused us as we didn't think it was a Chablis.